1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of dishwashers and, more particularly, to a modular support body for a drawer-type dishwasher that can be employed to form a single compartment drawer-type dishwasher or stacked with another modular support body to form a multi-compartment dishwasher.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In general, dishwashers having pull-out drawers supported in a cabinet are known in the art. The dishwasher may include a single pull-out drawer or, in some cases, the dishwasher is constructed as a dual unit having an upper pull-out drawer forming a first wash tub for washing dishware, and a lower pull-out drawer forming a second wash tub that can be used to supplement the first wash tub. In any event, known drawer-type wash tubs are mounted to extensible rails that are carried by or mounted to an enclosed cabinet. Typically, the cabinet is positioned under a kitchen countertop adjacent cabinetry or other kitchen appliances.
Manufacturers of home appliances face a highly competitive market. Thus, there is a constant struggle to reduce both the number and complexity of various parts of the appliance, as well as lower costs associated with manufacturing, without detracting from an established level of quality. One method found to reduce both the number of parts and manufacturing costs is to re-evaluate the design of fundamental components used to construct the appliance. One area of investigation has focused on the enclosed cabinet and associated structure.
Given that a dishwasher is placed under a kitchen countertop adjacent cabinetry, walls or other appliances, there is really no need to provide a fully enclosed cabinet. In recognition of this fact, manufacturers of conventional dishwashers have done away with enclosed cabinets and developed an assembly which mounts a washing tub on minimal support structure which is then positioned under a countertop and secured in place. While this solution is fine for conventional dishwashers, drawer-type dishwashers require specific structure for supporting extensible rails that enable one or more wash tubs to slide in and out. In general, it has been the practice to form a drawer-type dishwasher with an outer cabinet which encloses a slidable drawer and is specifically constructed in dependence on the number of drawers in the overall dishwasher.
Regardless of the known prior art, there still exists a need for a low cost, easily manufactured modular support body for a drawer-type dishwasher that includes specific structure for supporting a laterally movable washing chamber. More specifically, there exists a need for a modular dishwasher support body that can be employed either as a single unit or readily joined to a second modular dishwasher support body to form a multi-compartment unit.